Archive for Conferences

A two-week graduate reading study program offered by Towson University, "ESOL in Costa Rica," includes a one-year student membership in the International Reading Association and attendance at IRA's World Congress on Reading, which will be held in Costa Rica from July 28-31. The program, which offers three graduate credits, will introduce students to the theory of second language literacy and provide information on how to work with English language learners.

For further information, visit the following page on the Towson University website.

An international consortium of groups interested in teaching English to young learners (TEYL) is organizing an international conference titled “The Way Forward: Learning From International Experience of TEYL.” The conference will be held at the Regional Institute of English, Bangalore, South India, January 3–6, 2008. It is aimed at decision makers in ministries, planners, academics, teacher trainers, and others concerned with state programs for teaching English to children. The registration deadline is November 30, 2007.

Details are available from the conference website, www.primaryeltconference.org, or from the organizers, Janet Enever (j.enever@londonmet.ac.uk) or Jaynee Moon (jayne.moon@virgin.net).

 What does the fall political landscape look like for reading education as Congress reconvenes? What is NCLB’s schedule? How much money will the programs get?

Join Richard Long, IRA Director of Government Relations, in a live audioconference on Wednesday, September 19 (note new date) , at 8:00 p.m. EDT, as he discusses the Congressional legislative agenda for the fall of 2007 and its impact on reading education. Dr. Long will brief callers for about 20 minutes and then answer questions.

This will be a free service, but registration is limited. Participants are asked to register by September 10 with btierney@reading.org to receive the call-in number and a PowerPoint set of slides.

Participants are asked to e-mail their questions in advance to btierney@reading.org. We cannot guarantee that all questions will be answered during the call. We will try to answer all questions by e-mail. Concise questions are encouraged.

Please be sure to include your name and affiliation when posting your questions.

The Reading Assocation of the Philippines will hold its Midyear Demofest with the theme “Comprehension: Beyond the World of Words” on October 19 and 20, 2007, in Bacolod City. There will be more than fifteen panel presentations and demonstration teaching of the best practices in the country for teaching comprehension and related issues. For more information, please e-mail the association at rap.org@gmail.com.

Education in Africa will come under the spotlight as education ministers from African Union countries meet for a five-day conference this week in Johannesburg, South Africa. Issues relating to the Second Decade of Education for Africa will be discussed at the Third Ordinary Session of the Conference of the Ministers of Education, set to begin Monday, August 6, 2007. The initiative was launched by the African Union in 2006 and is aimed at moving the continent closer to attaining the international target of primary education for all by 2015. Read about the conference at allAfrica.com.

A sub-regional conference in support of literacy will take place in Beijing (China) on July 31 and August 1. The second in a series of regional conferences organized by UNESCO to promote global literacy, the Beijing conference will focus on the situation in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific. Although the total number of people who can read and write in this part of the world is high — 91.7% — a considerable gender gap persists, with women making up 70% of the illiterate population. The situation also varies significantly from one country to another. Details may be found at the UNESCO News Services website.

Rumors to the contrary notwithstanding, the 5th Pan-African Reading for All conference will be held as scheduled, August 6–10, 2007, at the University of Ghana, Legon Campus, Accra, Ghana. The theme of the conference is “Literacy for Human Liberation.”

The registration fee for conferees from non–African countries is US$200.00. Registration for conferees from African countries is US$150.00. All registration fees should be paid on arrival at the conference centre, the Institute of Adult Education on the Legon Campus. A detailed conference program will be available on site.

For more information, including a list of nearby hotels, download the conference information sheet, or contact Professor Kate Adoo-Adeku at kadeku2006@yahoo.com.

The University of Stavanger, Norway, announces the 1st Stavanger Reading and Writing Conference, to be held August 30 through September 1, 2007. The conference will be followed by a one-day social program on September 2, and workshops on September 3, 4, and 5. Program details and conference information are available at the conference website.

The Faculty of Education and Social Work at The University of Sydney announce “Future Directions in Literacy: International Conversations 2007,” a conference and teachers’ workshop, to be held September 3–6, 2007, in Harold Park Function Centre near the University. Teachers who attend the workshop and conference and complete a series of workshops on five subsequent Wednesday evenings will be eligible for a Certificate of Primary Literacy. Credit may also be earned toward a Master of Education degree.

CREATE, The Center for Research on the Educational Achievement and Teaching of English Language Learners, is a research center designed to address challenges in the education of English-language learners (ELLs) in the middle grades (4–8). The Center will hold its first conference October 1–2, 2007, at the Doubletree Hotel Chicago–Oak Brook, Chicago, Illinois. The conference title is “Academic Language and Content: A Focus on English Language Learners in Middle School.”

Featured speakers include Diane August, Alison Bailey, Jana Echevarria, Doug Fisher, David J. Francis, Elfrieda H. Hiebert, Michael P. Klentschy, Okhee Lee, Sylvia Linan-Thompson, Mary Schleppegrell, Deborah Short, Catherine Snow, Guadalupe Valdes, Sharon Vaughn, and Aida Walqui.

For information, visit the CREATE website.

The Southern Utah University (SUU) Student Reading Council, the Beta Alpha Chapter of Alpha Upsilon Alpha, and Southern Utah University are sponsoring the 28th Annual SUU Reading Conference, Feb. 15–16, 2008, on the SUU campus in Cedar City, UT. The conference is named Leave a Literacy Legacy: Focus on Word Study. Shane Templeton, author of Words Their Way, is the principal speaker. Contact David Lund at lundd@suu.edu for more information.

A call for papers/abstracts/submissions has been announced for the
6th Annual Hawaii International Conference on Education to be held January 5–8, 2008, in Honolulu. The conference will provide opportunities for academicians and professionals from a wide range of education-related fields to interact with members inside and outside their own particular disciplines. Cross-disciplinary submissions with other fields are welcome. For details, visit the conference website or contact education@hiceducation.org.

Submission Deadline: August 16, 2007